Cape Verde



Climatic models ran during the NAPA assessment for the period 2008-2012 have shown that Cape Verde´s natural vulnerabilities, along with their social and economic implications, are very likely to be exacerbated by climate-related disruptions in the next decades. These include more frequent extreme events like storms, floods and droughts, as well as shorter rainy seasons, with immediate impacts on livelihoods, infrastructure, sanitary conditions, recharge of reservoirs, and crop productivity.


Natural Hazard Statistics


Natural Hazard / Development Nexus

This tool allows the overlay of different natural hazard maps with social economic datasets by sliding the bar horizontally, which provides a broad sense of vulnerable areas.


Key Vulnerabilities

  • For Cape Verde, an island country, reduction of coastlines due to a possible rise in sea level could likely be a huge constraint to development and will dramatically affect coastal areas and the population (where 80% of the population lives), tourism, loss of habitat, biodiversity and fisheries. In Cape Verde, the main effects of sea level rise are increased coastal erosion, partial flooding depending on the tides, increased salinity in wells and boreholes located in the lowlands of the rivers, displacement of people to inner parts of the islands, abandonment of some tourist facilities located in areas affected by tides.
  • The islands generally have quite uneven topography of volcanic origin, with steep, deep and ramified valleys as in the eastern islands (Sal, Boavista and Maio). The highest point in Cape Verde is located on the Fogo Island having an active volcano in the country whose last eruption dates back to 1995. The recent volcano experienced was in 2014 which destroyed houses and infrastructure.
  • Nearly 70% of the population lives in rural areas and droughts have a negative impact on food security in Cape Verde. With an average 225 mm/year rainfall, approximately 20% of the water from rainfall is lost through surface runoff, 13% infiltrates, recharging aquifers, and 67% evaporates. Droughts will have an immediate and negative impact because of lower household yields in agriculture. Droughts add to decreased water availability to promote socio-economic development and add to desertification.